'American Idiot' tops Telegraphs "The 50 best punk albums of all time"

American Idiot has come in at #1 on Telegraph UK's list of The 50 best punk albums of all time. Not only is it the last true blockbuster of the rock age - with sales that will surely never be matched - it is also the highest-selling punk rock album of all time. And it is a punk rock album, just as Green Day are a punk-rock band. Despite the group's aged army of determined detractors - cries of "that's not punk!" have resounded since their breakthrough album, Dookie, sold in similar quantities in 1994 - when the group decides to floor it, there are few who can touch them. Partly political, conceptual, supple, ambitious - the record features not one, but two nine-minute songs - catchy and complete, American Idiot is the sound of a group testing both themselves and the boundaries of the genre they so capably represent. The Telegraph also gave some love to albums Green Day fans will recognize for reasons beyond just being great punk records. Bad Religion's Suffer landed at #3, with the paper crediting it as one of the records that helped inspire both Green Day and The Offspring before punk broke through in 1994. MDC's Millions of Dead Cops came in at #7, with Telegraph pointing out that Billie Joe's "No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!" chant from the 2016 American Music Awards traces back to MDC's "Born To Die." Rancid's ...And Out Come The Wolves made the list at #8, followed by The Offspring's Smash at #10. Operation Ivy's Energy also showed up at #38, with Telegraph noting the band's place at 924 Gilman Street, the same Berkeley club where Green Day got their start. The Replacements' Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash landed at #39 and was described as a major inspiration on a young Billie Joe Armstrong, while Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade came in at #47 and was cited as a key influence on American Idiot. Check out the full list at The Telegraph and let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks to farley drexel hatcher for sharing this on GDC.